


A Teaspoon of Honey

by PrioritiesSorted



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Family Dynamics, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Momboss and Detectiveson, Mother-Son Relationship, a small amount of Kataang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28018977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrioritiesSorted/pseuds/PrioritiesSorted
Summary: “Thanks, Mom.”Lin blacks out for a second. Then she has several thoughts in quick succession; the first isfuck. The second is that she’s inexpressibly glad they are in her office and not in the bullpen. The third is that she needs to say something now before Mako flees and never speaks to her again. A look of slow, dawning horror is spreading across his face, and Lin scrambles to say something that will end this torment for both of them.
Relationships: Aang & Lin Beifong, Lin Beifong & Mako, Lin Beifong/Kya II
Comments: 77
Kudos: 346





	A Teaspoon of Honey

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes you think of a concept and then it bugs you until you write a small fic about it, what can I say? 
> 
> Love me some Momboss and Detectiveson.

“Thanks, Mom.” 

Lin blacks out for a second. Then she has several thoughts in quick succession; the first is _fuck_. The second is that she’s inexpressibly glad they are in her office and not in the bullpen. The third is that she needs to say something _now_ before Mako flees and never speaks to her again. A look of slow, dawning horror is spreading across his face, and Lin scrambles to say something that will end this torment for both of them. 

“Just doing my job, Mako,” she says. Perhaps if she acts like he didn’t slip up at all, he’ll think she didn’t hear him. It seems to work, at least on some level, because Mako exhales and nods gratefully at her before he strides—every so slightly faster than usual—from her office. 

Lin leans over her paperwork, trying to ignore both the strange warmth in her chest, and the knot in her stomach. 

* * *

_“Thanks, Dad.”_

_He’s so used to hearing it that he’s halfway to saying, “you’re welcome, sweetie” before Aang realises it’s Lin who is currently looking up at him with panic in her saucer-large eyes. She’s ten, and old enough to know what she’s just said, but not old enough to brush it off. Aang—half panicking himself—reaches towards her, but he’s barely moved a muscle before he’s hit by what feels like a ton of earth, and suddenly he’s on his back. He spares a moment to think that Toph would be proud to see her ten year old daughter send the Avatar flying, and it’s enough time for Lin to flee towards the cliffs. Aang watches her go as he gets to his feet, unsure of whether to follow._

_Lin often needs space, Aang knows that, but he also knows that if she’s left too long she’ll shut down completely, and refuse to talk about whatever it is that needs talking about. He supposes that his knowing that in the first place is part of what landed them here. Between the amount of time Toph spends at work and the conspicuous absence of another parent in Lin’s life, he’s surprised something like this hasn’t happened before._

_Aang sends the dirt flying from his robes with a quick puff of air as he makes his way back towards the house. If he’s going to talk to Lin about this—and he_ should _talk to her about it—he’ll need to go armed; Lin always claims she doesn’t want sweetness in her tea—she prefers it bitter, just like her Mom—but Aang knows that a heaping teaspoon of honey in a cup of white tea is the surest way to get her to relax._

_He only hopes it will have the same effect on him._

* * *

Kya is already laid out on the sofa when Lin gets home, her feet propped up on pillows in a way that tells Lin she’s had a long day. 

“I ordered us take-out,” Kya says as soon as Lin closes the door behind her, confirming her suspicions. “I know it’s the second time this week but I swear just looking at the stove this evening made me want to cry. I love my Mom but I will never forgive her for insisting on that extra wing of the hospital, I feel like I’ve walked _miles_ today.” Lin sits down on the end of the couch, taking one of Kya’s feet between her hands and running a thumb firmly along Kya’s arch. “I love you, do you know that?” Kya moans, tipping her head back, and Lin grunts in response. 

“Long day for you too, huh?” Kya asks, and Lin shrugs. 

“Not too much longer than usual,” she says blandly, and Kya props herself up on her elbows, fixing her with a long look. Lin sighs. “Mako called me Mom.” 

Kya stifles a laugh with her hand as she flops back down onto the cushions. 

“I shouldn’t laugh, I’m sorry. Oh, that poor boy! He must be mortified.” 

“ _He_ was mortified? _I_ was mortified. I just sat there staring at him,” Lin admits. She still isn’t sure how long she’d spent staring into space after she realised what Mako had said, but she hopes it wasn’t as long as it felt. Kya, because she has _no_ sympathy for Lin’s situation, looks half amused and half pitying. 

“You must have said something eventually,” she says, and Lin is slightly offended to hear the doubt in her wife’s voice. 

“I just carried on the conversation, like it hadn’t happened. Figured it would be the least embarrassing outcome for both of us.” It’s a perfectly rational response, in Lin’s opinion, but Kya’s eyebrows have shot up, and there’s a worrying smile curling at the edges of her lips. There’s a beat before Kya says, 

“Oh, wow. You want to be his Mom.” 

“I do not,” Lin replies immediately. She had never wanted to be anyone’s Mom; it was a pretty big deal for Lin, historically. If she’d wanted to be someone’s Mom she would be on Air Temple Island right now, surrounded by teenaged airbenders and making dinner for Tenzin, not slouched on the sofa with his sister, waiting for the take-out to arrive. She likes her life the way it is. 

Then Kya speaks again, and suddenly Lin is not so certain. 

“You absolutely want to be his Mom,” she insists, and Lin wants this conversation to be over now. She should never have brought it up. She should have known Kya would take it and run with it, would see exactly what is about the situation that makes Lin so uncomfortable. Lin _knows_ she ought to be more honest about how she feels, but all too often, the way she feels is a damn mess that other people shouldn’t have to deal with. 

She shuts her eyes, takes a deep breath, and remembers that Kya _wants_ to hear about her mess. 

“He deserves better,” Lin says, without meeting Kya’s eye, and suddenly Kya’s feet are gone from her lap. Instead, she feels soft hands on her jaw, and Kya’s thumb strokes along the skin of her cheek. 

“Lin, he doesn’t need someone to change his diaper and read him a bedtime story,” she says softly. “I can’t say I know Mako all that well, but from what I do know—Lin he’s just a kid who’s never had any kind of adult he could look up to. He’s never had someone who would protect him the way he’s had to protect his brother, so now here you come and—Lin you look out for him, you look after him, don’t deny it.” Lin can’t, as much as she wants to. “He thinks the world of you. Would it be so bad to let him in a little?” Lin looks down at her hands for a long moment. She remembers every time she’s pulled Mako out of harm’s way, every time she’s reminded him to eat or to go home when he’s been working for too long. Lin remembers how hard she’d fought to keep him in the force instead of being sent off the Earth Kingdom with Wu, and the sadness she hadn’t been able to keep from her voice when she told him she’d failed. 

“I guess not,” Lin says eventually. 

“That’s settled, then,” Kya says, as though something had been decided. “Invite the kid to dinner next week.” 

The feet are back in her lap, and Lin rolls her eyes as she gets to work. 

* * *

_“What’s Toph done now?” Katara asks as she steps into the kitchen._

_“Nothing,” Aang replied, confused. “What makes you think she’s done something?”_

_“You’re making the Lin Tea,” Katara says absently, picking up the shawl that Kya had left draped across the table. “Have you seen the blueprints Sokka drew up for me? I’ve got to present the plans to the council in an hour.”_

_“The ones for the new wing of the hospital? They’re in my office, I figured you didn’t want them getting spilled on,” Aang tells her. Then, “Lin called me Dad.”_

_Katara’s face crumples into a sympathetic frown, and she lets out a soft,_

_“Oh.”_

_“I don’t really—I don’t know what to say to her,” Aang continues. “I know I shouldn’t—that I can’t make any promises but…”_

_“You love her,” Katara says simply. Aang nods._

_“Then that’s all you need to tell her. You’ll do just fine,” Katara reassures him, dropping a kiss onto his shoulder. Aang smiles his thanks as she slips past him back into the corridor, and takes a long, calming breath before he picks up the tea and walks out into the courtyard._

_He finds Lin where he knew she would be, sitting under the old yuzu tree on the very edge of the island’s highest cliff, looking out at the sea. Her little arms are wrapped around scabbed and dirty knees, and her eyes look slightly red when Aang sits down beside her._

_“You want some company?” Aang asks, and Lin scowls._

_“You want some tea?” he tries instead, and that works much better. After only a short pause, a small hand reaches out and takes the proffered teacup._

_Aang watches her blow carefully on the tea before she takes a tentative sip. Just watching her makes Aang’s heart swell, and he has to resist the urge to reach out and pull her against his side, to shelter her from the wind that’s whipping through the trees surrounding them._

_“I didn’t mean it,” Lin says abruptly. “What I said before.”_

_“Oh.” Aang says, slightly taken aback that she’s even brought it up. “I’m sure you didn’t.”_

_They drink in silence for a minute. Lin’s legs unfold from her chest, which Aang thinks is a good thing. She drops them instead over the cliff’s edge, absently kicking her heels back against the rock._

_“It’s a shame, though,” Aang says, and Lin looks up at him, confused. “I was hoping you did see me that way a little bit. I know I’m not your Dad, and I wouldn’t want to step on your Mom’s toes—I think I’d lose them if I tried—but it made me pretty happy to think that you feel safe with me. I’d like to be there for you when you need it. I know you’re a strong girl, and that won’t be very often, but I hope you don’t mind if I check in every now and again.”_

_He takes another sip of his tea as he waits for Lin to answer. Her legs have stopped kicking, but she’s begun chewing her bottom lip, a sure sign that she’s deep in thought._

_“That would be okay, I guess,” she concedes, and Aang has to try very hard not to grin too widely in response._

_“Thank you very much, Lin,” he says, as seriously as he can manage._

_“You’re welcome,” Lin says, and—not for the first time—Aang wonders who had taught her manners._

_Just like that, the conversation is over, and the unease is gone from the air. Lin’s legs are kicking the cliff face again; he can feel the way she’s subtly bending the rock so that it bounces against her heels. Aang reaches out to run his fingers gently through Lin’s hair. It’s fine and soft, nothing like Kya’s or Bumi’s uncontrollable waves, but she leans into the touch the same way they do._

* * *

“Kya says I should invite you to dinner.” 

Mako is the only one left at his desk, and he’s half asleep over his paperwork. He jumps at the sound of Lin’s voice. 

“What?” he asks, taken aback, and Lin grits her teeth to reply. 

“Kya. She says you should come over for dinner.” 

“Oh,” says Mako. “That’s very kind of her.” 

“Yeah,” Lin agrees. She doesn’t like to express emotions about her wife in the workplace. “So, day after tomorrow?” 

“Uh, sure,” Mako says. For a second, Lin panics that she’s made him uncomfortable, but then she notices the smile that’s catching the corners of his lips, and the tension begins to leak from her body. 

She smiles back, in a way she hopes looks friendly rather than awkward, and says, 

“See you then, kid.” 

Lin doesn’t know what possesses her, but she’s reached out before she can stop herself, and her hand comes to rest on the top of his head. His hair feels… unpleasant, if she’s completely honest—crunchy with pomade—but she’s committed now, so she allows her hand to stay where it is for a few seconds, scritching her fingers gently against his scalp. He leans into the touch. 

**Author's Note:**

> Me, even in short fic that has nothing to do with Katara: there's a statue of Katara outside that GODDAMN hospital.


End file.
